Originally posted on Thursday, July 25th, 2013
When Michelangelo succeeded to the position of architect-in-general to the Pope… and with it, the work of erecting St. Peter’s Basilica — he expressed his outrage at the deformation of the plan of its original architect by an intermediate appointee.
Creation of Man, from the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
As noted in a letter to Bartolomeo Amanati (or perhaps Ferratini) reproduced in Michael Angelo Buonarroti, by Charles Holroyd, Keeper of the National Gallery of British Art, with Translations of the Life of the Master by His Scholar, Ascanio Condivi, and Three Dialogues from the Portuguese by Francisco d’Ollanda (London, Duckworth and Company; New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903, pp. 238 – 239)
“It cannot be denied that Bramante was a brave architect, equal to any one from the times of the ancients until now. He laid the first plan of Saint Peter’s, not confused, but clear and simple, full of light and detached from surrounding buildings, so as not to injure any part of the palace. It was considered a fine thing, and, indeed, it is still manifest that it was so; and all the architects who have departed from the plan of Bramante, as Sangallo has done, have departed from the truth. And so it is, and all who have not prejudiced eyes can see it in his model. He, with his outer circle of chapels, in the first place takes all the light from the plan of Bramante; and not only this, but he has not provided any other means of lighting, and there are so many lurking places, both above and below, all dark, which would be very convenient for innumerable knaveries, a secure hiding-place for bandits, false coiners, and all sorts of ribaldry…. [Emphasis added.]
In the original Italian: I deambulatori delle absidi voluti dal Sangallo, dice ancora Michelangelo, impediscono la luce e invitano i furfanti a nascondervisi, e già gli par di vedere lì «far monete false, impregnar monache ed altre ribalderie».
It is noteworthy that the great Michelangelo would place banditry on the same level with “false coiners” — translated from a phrase that can connote either counterfeiters or those who debase the currency. It also calls to mind an observation attributed to Michelangelo which seems especially apt under the circumstances:
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
Those who worry that the standard set by the gold standard is too high would better serve if they concerned themselves with the career civil servants of the Federal Reserve System setting their aim to low….
[With thanks to the erudite Donna Bethell for drawing the attention of this writer to Michelangelo’s sentiment to Amanati.]
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